Residents asked to help Stuff the Bus at Taunton-area supermarkets this weekend

By Jordan Deschenes

Thursday

Nov 15, 2018 at 5:14 PMNov 15, 2018 at 5:22 PM

TAUNTON — Now in its 14th year running, the Greater Taunton Charitable Association’s Stuff the Bus program is hoping to once again help local families put food on their tables this Thanksgiving.

As a part of the program, those headed out to the local Market Basket and two Trucchi’s supermarkets this weekend for Thanksgiving shopping will have the chance to purchase extra items that will be donated to families requesting assistance.

Last year, donated items — such as turkeys and canned goods — provided meals for around 600 families, according to GTCA President Cathy Lane.

“People wait for this all year,” said Lane.

“The community seems to know that we do it every year, so we don’t do much advertising.”

Lane said that this year’s program would be held between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the three supermarkets, at which volunteers will hand out lists to customers containing requested Thanksgiving items to donate.

In particular, Lane said that volunteers from school organizations like Taunton High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC program and the Coyle and Cassidy Middle and High School National Honor Society have been “phenomenal” in recent years.

Lane also recognized the Taunton Police Department and local Boy and Girl Scout troops for providing volunteer assistance, as well as businesses such as Jordan’s Furniture, Mechanics Cooperative Bank and MacDonald Moving and Storage.

As the program’s namesake hints, school buses whose services are donated by H&L Bloom Bus are stationed in front of each supermarket and are then “stuffed” with the donated items and transported to the GTCF headquarters.

Items that need to remain frozen are kept in refrigerators donated by Conlon Refrigeration, Lane said.

“Bloom has been kind enough to donate the buses to use at the stores on both days since the beginning,” said Lane.

“The refrigerators are essential, because we can’t rely on (cold) weather all the time to accommodate us.”

At the GTCF headquarters, the donated items are then sorted and packaged according to the size of each family requesting a dinner.

Lane said that the program is able to find out which families are in need of a dinner each year based upon lists sent to her from various sources, including the city’s school system, which bases its list on students who are eligible to receive free lunches.

Other sources that provide lists each year include local food pantries, churches, senior living facilities and Matthew Mission Director Mark Cook.

While the program serves all of Taunton’s surrounding communities, Lane said that those from Raynham have not recently made any donation requests for families there.

Lane said that “anything included in a Thanksgiving dinner” is accepted — especially turkeys, stuffing and desserts — although miscellaneous non-perishable items such as cereal and rice are also taken.

Some residents even donate fresh fruits and vegetables, she added.

“We rely purely on the generosity of the community to make this happen each year,” said Lane.